My last post looked at libraries as community hubs. This goes one step further.
In Arizona, U.S.A, some libraries have responded to a need that is not being met anywhere else in the community.
Health
A nurse takes a library visitor’s blood pressure
Community health nurses are now employed in 6 on the library branches in Pima County. With a lot of people homeless, unemployed or without health insurance, the nurses provide a vital service to the community. “Placing nurses in six branches is a nod to the widely accepted transition of public libraries into de facto community centers.” (Eun Kyung Kim, 28.3.13.)
A typical day for a library nurse would include blood pressure monitoring, examining the swollen limbs of diabetics, handing out condoms, arranging referrals to medical services, and dressing superficial cuts and sprains. The nurses also play a role in community health education. By example, a nurse might join children’s storytime or give parents advice about the care and feeding of their baby.
Another important role that the nurses play is that of a social worker. They are able to direct people to the relevant organisations or authorities to help them. For example, a nurse might refer a homeless person to shelters or a jobseeker to the relevant authority.
A nurse gives a customer information on emergency housing.
While much noise is being made about libraries moving forward in terms of technology, its gratifying to realise that they can move forward in another direction, community service.
As someone who works in a public library, I have kind of absorbed a lot of Dewey Decimal Classification by osmosis. If you want to find information about football, a copy of the latest Lonely Planet guide on Tibet, recipes for Mexican cookery, manuals on how to use Microsoft Excel, a biography on Princess Diana or instructions on how to build a pergola, I’m your woman.
As a LIS student, however, I am required to develop a much deeper knowledge of Dewey classification. When cataloguing books I will need to use WebDewey, an online program designed to help classify books according to a strict set of (very confusing!) guidelines. It helps, though, to have a general ‘feel’ for what is right when you are working in this program.
Fun stuff
This post is really a bit of fun, showcasing some of the cool infographics I have found in my quest to commit Dewey categories to memory. I’m aware that most of them were designed with children in mind, but that’s okay, we must walk before we can run!
(hover your cursor over the images to see their source)
The third place (sometimes called the ‘third space’) is the place that is not your home (1st place) and not your work environment (2nd place). The third place is a place where people can gather and get away from tensions and worries at home and at work.
The term was coined in 1989 by sociologist Ray Oldenburg. He refined his definition by listing the following requirements for a Third place:
Free or inexpensive
Food and drink, while not essential, should be available in the vicinity
Highly accessible: proximate for many (walking distance)
Involve regulars – those who habitually congregate there
Welcoming and comfortable
Both new friends and old should be found there.
Traditionally third places are anywhere that people gather for social and recreational reasons, from the Forum in ancient Rome right through to a modern day barbershop.
Gathering at the barbershop
Public libraries are in the perfect position to become a popular Third Place. Many have already taken this concept on board. In particular the public library in a small community can often be the hub of the town.
Story time at Toholammin kunnankirjasto (Toholampi library)in Finland. From their Facebook page.
A number of small municipal Finnish libraries have taken Third Place Theory on board in a big way and have become the cultural centres of their towns. In addition to the more usual book groups, author talks, handicraft groups and reading circles, they have diversified. Community groups are encouraged to meet there. New ventures include loaning of sports goods, having cafe nights, movie nights and offered opportunities to produce digital material.
Of course this is not happening only in Finland but also around the world. In a time when some see the library as a dying institution, many libraries are meeting the challenge of changing times by creating spaces and services that satisfy the age old need of humans to feel a sense of community.
There is an excellent article about how to design libraries as Third Places here
Book talk at The Bookworm
Just as an interesting snippet, I came upon a website for an interesting concept in China, which seems to really hit the nail on the head in terms of Third Place. There are 3 branches of The Bookworm, in Beijing, Suzhou and Chengdu. They are not public libraries, but rather a commercial venture which sells, but also lends, books (for a small fee). They attract foreigners living in China as they stock books in European languages. With the inclusion of a cafe and restaurant, they have become a busy meeting place for locals and expats. The’Happenings’ page reads: ‘The Bookworm’s library makes the perfect informal setting for our inspiring programme packed with readings, talks, discussions, debates, book launches and music gigs. Audiences are enlightened by well respected novelists, journalists and travel writers; enraptured by impromptu homespun musical soirees hatched round the piano; and transported to lands far away by lilting lines of live poetry.’
I’m sure many of the ideas used by The Bookworm could be implemented in public libraries.
Libraries are already using QR codes in a myriad of ways, particularly in education and marketing. Companies in Bucharest, Romania have taken this a step further and launched a store for ebooks on their subway station platforms .The walls have bookshelf prints that let the passengers browse book on the subway and then download them through the QR codes included on the prints. Most downloads are teaser portions of the e-books that encourage the reader to buy the rest of the book if they are interested. Other ebooks are free of charge. While this particular project is a commercial venture, designed to SELL ebooks, the idea could easily be adapted for libraries to encourage users to LEND ebooks.
Digital bookshop in Bucharest subway
A recent project by an advertising student in New York took this concept even further, swapping the QR codes for Near Field Communication (NFC). Many libraries already use Radio Frequency ID technology (RFID). NFC is a refined version of RFID. It operates at a maximum range of about 10cm, and allows for either 1 or 2 way communications. NFC technology is a newer, more finely honed version of RFID. It operates at a maximum range of about 4 inches (10 centimeters) and can be set up for one- or two-way communications. RFID Smart tags very similar to RFID tags, but are simply tuned to work with an NFC reader instead of an RFID one. This video explains how the student envisaged using NFC on the New York subway to raise encourage readers to physically visit one of the New York City public libraries nearby.
This project is just a concept and has not been implemented, but it illustrates one of the many ways libraries can reach out to the community using technology in new and innovative ways. Read more about it here
In modern times we rely heavily on automation to help us retrieve information and resources. Many of today’s resources have been digitised and reside on a server somewhere in the world, ready for retrieval with a few key strokes on the world wide web.
Even physical resources are now being left in the capable hands of machines.
More and more libraries, particularly academic, are investing in huge automated resource retrieval systems like this one at Macquarie University library in Sydney, Australia. This collection holds those resources which are not used as often in storage space that takes up only one seventh of traditional library shelving. Books are retrieved from the big tubs they are stored in by a robotic arm.
Automated retrieval system at Macquarie University Library
And now a peek back to the early 20th century at New York Public Library, where elevators were utilised to bring books up from stacks deep within the library.
Sectional view of New York Public Library
And now even more ‘old school’, back to 1874, where ladders, stairs and shoe leather did all the work at the public library of Cincinnati.
Public library of Cincinnati in 1874
For more photos of libraries from the past go to Retronaut.
Every reader knows that sinking feeling. You have finished every book by that favourite author and have a long, long wait for the next book. (Or even worse, the author will not be writing any more books!)
You ask your friends, colleagues and family for book recommendations. You browse libraries and book stores. You resort to re-reading some old favourites in desperation.
Help is at hand!
Whichbook is a nifty little website that could be just what you need.
It allows readers to use sliders to choose the content of their book, as shown in the screenshot below.
There are also options to choose criteria related to
* character (age, race, sexuality, gender)
* plot (success against the odds, conflict, twists and turns, quest, revelation, generations)
or
* setting. Click on the world map to choose a setting, or choose ‘imaginary’
There is also an option to refine your search to ebooks, audiobooks or large print.
Inviting, customisable spaces entice teens to ‘hang out’ with friends at Hamilton Grange Library, Harlem, NYC.
Ask most people to describe a library and they will probably include ‘quiet’ in their description. There is the stereotype of librarians racing around shhhhushing people.
This library, in Harlem, New York City, is one of many challenging that idea.
The idea is to get people to engage with library resources and with other people. This can mean a little noise, and that’s fine with the library staff.
The floor of the library that is pictured above was designed specifically for teens. The furniture can easily be moved around to suit the needs of groups or individuals. There is a set of ‘bleacher’ steps to encourage conversation and interaction.
Bleacher seats to entice teens
Teens are encouraged to come along, do homework, have a snack or just simply enjoy some time with friends in a safe, positive environment.
Architect Lyn Rice used cost-effective “raw” materials and says the design “makes teens feel as if they have free reign over the space.” The space is huge, at 4,400 square-feet . Clear walls and open spaces mean fewer staff are required to monitor the space.
What do a colonial jail building, a disused telephone booth, an 1858 barn which hasn’t seen a horse for many years, a spare shipping container and some old railway carriages have in common?
They are all libraries of course!
This colonial jail in Nassau (Bahamas), built in 1873, is enjoying a new life as a public library.Disused train carriages in ChileShipping container turned into a library in The Netherlands.
More libraries that began life with a different purpose can be found here.
A conference paper published by ALIA (Australian Library and Information Association) last year talked about the increasing pressure on libraries to justify their existence, read ‘expense’, to their stakeholders (funding bodies, government bodies, administration, staff, academics, students, researchers and general public).
Around 60% of libraries anticipate having to undergo a Return of Investment (RIO) assessment in the short to mid term future.
“All public institutions…should give returns for their cost; and those returns should be in good degree positive, definite, visible and measurable […] Common sense demands that a publicly-supported institution do something for its supporters and that some part at least of what it does be capable of clear description and downright valuation.”—John Cotton Dana, key figure in early 20th
century
librarianship, writing in 1920 (Dana, 1991)
Obviously the value of a library cannot be measured simply in capital assets, and thus it is an enormously complicated exercise to place a dollar value on education, accessibility of resources and provision of services.
Even so, the libraries are being asked to do just this, and a number of tools and methods are emerging.
Perhaps the most noteworthy RIO study done in Australia so far was commissioned earlier this year by ALIA. The finding was the in Australian public libraries, the return is $2.90 on every $1 spent.
"The library, and step on it" 
